May 28, 2015

Emterra Environmental Invests $5.25M in Greener Natural Gas Fleet Fuelling Station in Chilliwack, Fraser Valley

CHILLIWACK, BC (May 28, 2015) – Today Emterra Environmental announced its investment of $5.25 million in establishing a compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling station and launching a fleet of CNG waste and recycling collection trucks in Chilliwack, BC. Emterra provides waste and recycling services for the City of Chilliwack.

The new fuelling station will soon be open to other CNG fleet owners and operators and it is the first CNG station in the Fraser Valley that will be open in the near future to members of the public who want to own cleaner-burning CNG-fuelled cars and trucks.

This is the second of four CNG fuelling stations that Emterra is establishing in Canada. The first was opened in 2012 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The third Emterra CNG station will open this summer in the Capital Regional District in the City of Victoria, BC and the fourth in the City of Mississauga, Ontario later in the year. This makes Emterra one of the leaders in adopting cleaner running CNG technology to help make its operations more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

“We’re blazing the trail in building CNG fuelling stations for our own CNG fleets because we see the economic and environmental benefit of it. But we’re also improving the environmental health of BC by opening up this station for use by other CNG fleet owners and operators and members of the public,” said Emterra Founder and CEO Emmie Leung at a grand opening ceremony that took place today.

CNG is a lower cost fuel that provides environmental benefits. CNG trucks reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 per cent and operate at much reduced engine sound, significantly lowering noise pollution, which can be a nuisance to residents and businesses. The noise from one idling diesel truck is comparable to the noise from 10 idling natural gas trucks[1].

Emterra’s CNG fuelling station creates opportunities for BC’s fleet owners and operators to switch to a lower-cost, cleaner-burning CNG vehicles, helping to make BC businesses more competitive and sustainable.

“The City of Chilliwack appreciates Emterra’s efforts to modernize and green its curbside collection fleet to help protect the sensitive airshed of the Fraser Valley and reduce greenhouse gas emissions”, said Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz.

Emterra’s partner in building and operating the Chilliwack facility is California-based Clean Energy Fuels, which has a division in Chilliwack called IMW Industries where it builds CNG compressors that are exported around the world.

Iain Johnstone, Regional Manager Canada for Clean Energy Fuels said his company is proud to be partners with Emterra in the Chilliwack fuelling station, and sees Emterra as progressive in its decision to build CNG fuelling stations in BC.

"We applaud Emterra for its leadership in providing access to cleaner natural gas for vehicles in the Fraser Valley area. Natural gas as a transportation fuel can provide environmental and economic benefits for fleets of all sizes. IMW builds CNG compressors in Chilliwack that are exported to all parts of the world so we're proud to call Emterra a partner and neighbour," said Johnstone.

The CNG fuelling station in Chilliwack contributes to the BC Ministry of Natural Gas Development’s Natural Gas Strategy, including developing new markets for natural gas to increase the value of BC’s natural gas and promoting use of natural gas as a climate solution.  

It also contributes to the local green economy and to the Fraser Valley Regional District and Province of BC’s Climate Action Charter goals.

 

About Emterra Group

Emterra Group is a Canadian leader in waste resources management. A family owned and operated company, it comprises four divisions offering municipal and industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) customers with a fully integrated approach to collecting, processing and marketing waste, recyclables, organic waste, used tires, and more. Emterra has operations in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Michigan, USA, and annually ships about 500,000 tonnes of recyclables to end-markets to be re-manufactured into new products. Driven by its mandate to increase the sustainability of its operations, Emterra is one of Canada’s most progressive users of alternative green fleet technologies in the waste management industry and consistently deploys the latest green technologies to truly “walk the talk”, including using CNG vehicles and fuelling stations and operating optical sorting equipment in its recycling plants.

 

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Contact:

Paulina Leung
VP of Corporate Strategy and Business Development
Emterra Group
905.336.9084, ext. 130
Paulina.Leung@emterra.ca